Life Insurance and Voluntary Benefits

This page covers two kinds of extra protection: life insurance through Lincoln Financial Group, and Voluntary Benefits (Hospital Care Indemnity, Accidental Injury, and Critical Illness) through Cigna.

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What's Changing for 2027 Life Insurance Life Insurance Types Life Costs, Beneficiaries, and Claims Voluntary Benefits Voluntary Plan Types Voluntary Costs and Claims

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What's Changing for 2027

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Life Insurance

Dartmouth offers a range of life insurance products through Lincoln Financial Group. Some, like Basic Life, come at no cost and need no enrollment or Evidence of Insurability. Others, like Supplemental and Dependent Life, have a cost and require an active election in FlexOnline.

Your actual monthly premium for Supplemental Life can shift if your salary changed or your age moved you into a new age band as of January 1. Use the Benefit Plan Cost Estimator to check your cost.

Eligibility and Enrollment

Coverage type and amount depend on your employment category. See Life Insurance Types for specifics by plan.

To increase or decrease coverage, or add or remove Supplemental or Dependent Life for the calendar year, you must act during Open Enrollment or as a new hire. Otherwise, changes require an IRS-eligible life event, completed within 30 days.

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Life Insurance Types

Life insurance types

Type	Who is eligible and how much	Cost	Evidence of Insurability
Basic Life	Group term life insurance paying a benefit to your beneficiaries. Faculty, Exempt, and Non-Exempt employees get $50,000 of coverage at no cost. SEIU employees get 2.5x annual salary at no cost after one year of eligible employment. Research Associate Bs and Research Fellows may purchase the $50,000 plan and/or 1 to 8x salary.	Free for Faculty, Exempt, Non-Exempt, and SEIU employees. Research Associate Bs and Research Fellows can purchase the $50,000 plan for $4.65 per month.	Not required
Supplemental Life	An optional group term plan on top of Basic Life. Faculty, Exempt, and Non-Exempt employees may elect up to 8x annual salary, maximum $1,500,000. Research Associate Bs and Research Fellows may also purchase 1 to 8x salary.	Rates are based on age band and coverage per $1,000, across 11 age bands starting at 18 to 24 and increasing every 5 years through 70+, where they level off.	New hires get guaranteed issue up to 2.5x salary if they enroll within their first 30 days of eligibility (no health questions). Increases require Evidence of Insurability.
Dependent Life	Covers your dependents, with you as the named beneficiary if something happens to them. SEIU employees become eligible after one year of employment.	Flat monthly rate chart.	Not required

More About Supplemental Life

• Your premium (and any future payout) is based on your salary as of January 1, so a mid-year raise doesn't change your rate until the next year.
• Increasing coverage during Open Enrollment or through a life event requires Evidence of Insurability. This is a Statement of Health through Lincoln Financial, linked at the end of your FlexOnline enrollment. The increase isn't effective until Lincoln approves it.

More About Dependent Life

Dartmouth couples cannot cover each other on Dependent Life. Beginning in 2027, each may cover their shared children.

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Life Insurance Costs, Beneficiaries, and Claims

Cost of Coverage

• Basic Life is free for Faculty, Exempt, Non-Exempt, and SEIU employees. Research Associate Bs and Research Fellows can purchase the $50,000 plan for $4.65 per month.
• Supplemental Life premiums are based on your annual base salary as of January 1. Use the Benefit Plan Cost Estimator with your anticipated January 1 salary to see your actual rate.
• Dependent Life has its own flat monthly rate chart. See the current rate sheet.

Beneficiaries

Manage beneficiaries for all your life insurance products in FlexOnline. From the dashboard, go to My Profile, then Beneficiaries. Changes can be made anytime, and no life event is needed.

SEIU employees are prompted to enter beneficiary information at hire so it's not forgotten once their one-year waiting period ends. Review your beneficiaries periodically, especially after a major life change.

Additional Lincoln Financial Benefits (Included with Basic Life)

Anyone enrolled in Basic Life also gets access to the following, all at no additional cost:

• TravelConnect (PDF): 24/7 multilingual travel assistance when you're 100 or more miles from home, including doctor referrals, transportation, prescriptions, emergency evacuation, and lost document help. The service is provided by On Call International. Call 866-525-1955 toll-free from the U.S. or Canada, or 603-328-1955 collect from anywhere in the world. The flyer has the portal for plan documents.
• Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D): matches your Basic plus Supplemental life coverage up to $250,000.
• LifeKeys: online will preparation, beneficiary support, identity theft protection, and shopping and entertainment discounts. Access it at GuidanceResources.com, through the GuidanceNow app, or by calling 1-855-891-3684 (first-time users enter the Web ID "LifeKeys"). Beneficiary services are available for up to one year after a loss and include six in-person or virtual sessions, unlimited phone support for grief counseling, and access to financial and legal resources. See the LifeKeys beneficiary services flyer (PDF).
• Lincoln FuneralPrep: funeral planning support through Funeral Decisions Co.

Filing a Claim

Beneficiaries should contact the Benefits Office with a copy of the deceased's death certificate. Payouts are generally based on the employee's annual base salary as of January 1, though a qualifying life event after that date can trigger a recalculation of the benefit amount.

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Voluntary Benefits

Voluntary Benefits add extra financial protection on top of your medical coverage. They are useful if your medical plan has a high deductible and you want a cushion against unexpected claims. Benefits pay out as a lump-sum cash payment you can use however you need.

Coverage is separate from medical and fully portable (you keep it if you leave Dartmouth). You do not need to be enrolled in a Dartmouth medical plan to participate. If you don't log into FlexOnline during Open Enrollment, your prior-year elections carry forward automatically.

Eligibility and Enrollment

All benefits-eligible employees can enroll in any or all three plans, covering a spouse, children, and stepchildren. You pay the full cost. Dartmouth couples cannot cover each other, and only one parent may cover the children under these plans. Enroll through FlexOnline.

If you're enrolled in a Dartmouth medical plan and have an eligible claim, Cigna will proactively notify you to submit it under your Voluntary Benefits too (through Cigna's Simple File process), so you don't miss a payout you're entitled to. To see how to submit a claim, go to the Cigna Member Guide (Cigna website) and select "claims and accounts." Cigna will direct you to myCigna to file the claim.

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Voluntary Benefits Plan Types

Voluntary benefits plan types

Plan	What it does	Summary of Benefits
Hospital Care Indemnity	Helps cover deductibles, coinsurance, and everyday living expenses during a hospitalization: a cash payment for each covered event, regardless of what your medical plan already paid.	Hospital Care Indemnity Summary of Benefits (PDF)
Accidental Injury	Helps cover medical costs tied to an accidental injury, such as ER visits, fractures, and physical therapy, paid as a lump sum per qualifying event.	Accident Insurance Summary of Benefits (PDF)
Critical Illness	Pays a lump sum upon diagnosis of a covered critical illness, such as a heart attack, stroke, invasive cancer, or end-stage renal failure. Includes a $50 Health Screening Test incentive (see below).	Critical Illness Insurance Summary of Benefits (PDF)

To request a printed copy, an accessible copy, or help finding information in these documents, contact the Benefits Office at (603) 646-3588.

Critical Illness Wellness Incentive

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Voluntary Benefits Costs and Claims

Monthly Rates

Check rates for all three plans using the Benefit Plan Cost Estimator. Click the "Vision and Voluntary Benefits" link at the top of the tool.

Filing a Claim

File through your mycigna.com account. You can:

• Have your doctor complete a simple physician's statement form.
• Upload your own medical records.
• Do both for more complex claims. Cigna also accepts medical notes downloaded directly from your hospital's patient portal.

Get the physician's statement form and more filing details at SuppHealthClaims.com.

For the Critical Illness $50 wellness screening incentive specifically, there's a separate, simpler claim process. Use the wellness incentive claim link in the Critical Illness section above.

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